


Fratres

by Bubbly_Kandy, KERTO



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Big Brother Ven, Crying Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Vanitas isn't actually there but hes important to the story, brotherly bonding baby! its what we all deserve!, but its okay because ven's there, especially sora jfc has anyone hugged this kid recently, ven says fuck but only once, yeah sora isnt doing so hot in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29388780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bubbly_Kandy/pseuds/Bubbly_Kandy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/KERTO/pseuds/KERTO
Summary: Something being wrong wasn't the fact that Sora was up late, lost in his own thoughts and staring off into the distance. That happened pretty often.What did tip him off was the Keyblade held loosely in Sora's limp hand, and more importantly, the tears running down Sora's cheeks and dripping off of his chin.Uh oh.
Relationships: Sora & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	Fratres

He saw Sora standing stick-straight in the middle of the living room, staring at a wall. That wasn't worrying, not at first. Sora often would have entire conversations with himself within his own head, where he would stay still and stare at a random point until he finished his thought-conversation or was brought out of it by someone in the world with him. Ven could attest to walking in on Sora multiple times, just like this, both in the middle of the night (which it was, at the moment) and during the day.

What tipped Ven off to something being _wrong_ was the Keyblade held loosely in Sora's limp hand, and more importantly, the tears running down Sora's cheeks and dripping off of his chin. 

_Uh oh._

"Sora...?" Ven called softly, walking slowly closer and fully where Sora could, hypothetically, see him. Sora didn't move, eyes still trained on the wall in front of him. Curious, Ven turned (moving slowly and in measured movements), looking behind him to where Sora was staring.

_Ah._

Sora's shadow, thanks to the backlight of the moon and soft candles that burned safely around the living room, was staring right back at him, facing Sora head on. The light had warped it so that it stood taller than both Sora and Ven, spiky hair almost touching the ceiling. Ven felt his nose wrinkle in distaste, and he turned his back on the shadow, once again facing Sora. 

" _Sora,_ " Ven said, keeping his voice low. "Can you hear me? Sora?" No response. Ven's eyes drifted to behind the younger boy, landing on one of the many candles. 

_Aha!_

Ven summoned Wayward Wind- Sora thankfully not reacting- and cast a controlled aero spell, snuffing out all the candles easily and quietly. The room darkened quickly, now only lit by the moon shining in through the window. 

The effect was immediate. Sora blinked, his face going from completely blank to faintly confused. His eyebrows pulled together, eyes flickering around and scanning the wall- the shadow was gone. 

Ven stayed quiet, waiting for Sora to notice him. It took a good few minutes of Sora blinking slowly, looking confused, and soundlessly moving his lips, but soon his gaze raised, and Sora's baby blues rested on him. 

"Roxas...?" 

"Not quite," Ven said gently, reaching up to flick the ponytail that rested on the nape of his neck. Sora's eyes, still blank and empty, seemed to almost stare right through him. "You were close."

"... Ven." 

"You got it." 

Sora blinked slowly again, tears still streaming down his face; they didn't seem to bother him, not yet. Sora took in a deep, shuddering breath, a stark difference to the short, quick ones he had been taking. 

“Ven," Sora murmured again, eyebrows coming together for a tic before they relaxed again. His Keyblade fell from his hand, clattering on the ground before it vanished. Ven jumped at the noise- it was like Sora hadn't even heard it. "Ven...?"

"That’s right, I'm right here. Hey, do you wanna sit down?" Ven asked, Sora's face flickering in confusion again. "We can sit and talk, do you wanna do that?"

"Vanitas," Sora said instead, having not even heard Ven talking. His hand lifted to his head, eyebrows knitting together. Looking for words to say, his jaw moved up and down, his shoulders sinking and his spine curling in. "Where...?"

"Vanitas isn't here right now," Ven told him softly. _And good riddance._ "It's just you, Sora, and me, Ven; we're in Yen Sid's castle. Vanitas isn't here." 

"But he..." Sora looked up at the wall again, eyes flickering around. "He was...!" Sora's breathing started to pick up, and he lurched forward, gripping Ven's wrists enough to hurt as he began to sink to the floor, Ven following him until they both were on their knees. "Ven! Ven, you have to- Vanitas, he was-" Sora sucked in a shaky breath, eyes flickering all around as he stared up at Ven, wide-eyed and terrified. His voice dropped to a shaky whisper. "He'll _hurt you._ " 

Ven felt his heart crack.

This was _bad_. Ven had never seen Sora have an episode like this- sure, he disassociated at times, but even that was relatively easy to pull him out of. This was a _deep_ hurt, making Sora have to run on fumes away from the dangers his own mind forced upon him, and it physically _hurt_ to watch him spiral. 

" _Breathe_ , Sora," Ven finally said, realizing he had been quiet for too long. "Vanitas can't hurt me." 

"Yes he can," Sora responded quickly, words tumbling out of his mouth half-baked and jumbled. "He told me, he _told me-_ "

"He talked to you?" Ven asked, wanting to kick himself from how his voice wavered. Sora nodded, his hair getting stuck in the sticky trails tears had left on his cheeks. "What else did he say?"

"He talked to me," Sora repeated, "'n he said he'll st- he'll stop at _nothing_ , he's going to _get_ _you_ , Ven-" Sora choked on a sob, and Ven fought to keep from reacting as Sora’s knuckles grew white from how tightly he was holding Ven’s wrists.

"Sora, look at me. Can I touch you?" Surprisingly, Sora responded with a nod. Ven lifted his hand and rested it on Sora's wet cheek, lightly swiping his thumb over Sora's cheekbone. “Look at me, and _listen_ to me, okay?" Sora sniffled, and Ven took that as affirmation. "Can you tell me where Vanitas went?"

"Huh?" Sora squeaked, his voice small and breaking. Ven bit the inside of his cheek and blinked twice to stop the sudden influx of burning in his eyes. 

"Where did Vanitas go?" He asked again, keeping his voice soft. He knew this was dangerous. If Yen Sid found out that Ven was fueling a fantasy created by Sora's head, he'd probably get a lecture lasting at _least_ three hours. However, Ven couldn't find it within himself to give a damn. “Sora, can you tell me where he-”  
  
“Anywhere, anywhere, Ven he could be _anywhere-”_

“Then we’ll search the castle,” Ven determined, immediately balking at the absolute _mass_ of that task but not missing the small gasp that left Sora’s mouth. Ven’s other hand cupped Sora’s free cheek, brushing away the tears that, thankfully, were starting to dry from Sora’s eyes. “And i- and _when_ we find him, we’ll beat him up.” 

“Really?” Sora’s voice, though still shaking, held a faint glimmer of child-like excitement that made Ven smile. _There was his Sora._

“Really.” 

Sora sniffed, letting go of one of Ven’s wrists and rubbing his eye as Ven pushed Sora’s bangs away from where they were sticking on his skin. Sora looked so _young,_ his face red and tear-stained as his nightclothes, too big for his body, hung loosely around him. It was hard to believe that this _kid,_ Ven’s little brother in all but blood, had gone and saved the worlds from destruction more than once. He was a hero by age 14, and hadn’t (been able to be) stopped since. 

The Hero of Worlds was now leaning against Ven’s shoulder, breathing still hiccupy and short from the complete breakdown he had just suffered from, and Ven took a moment to rage about just how fucking _unfair_ it all was.

Sora mumbled something into Ven’s chest.

“Hm?” Ven broke himself out of his thoughts, looking down at the top of Sora’s head. “Say that again, please?”  
  
Sora pulled his face out from Ven’s shirt, his hair tickling Ven’s neck, chin, and cheek. 

“Can we, um… Hug?” Sora asked, voice cracking on the final word. Ignoring just how painfully shy Sora sounded while asking _Ven_ for a hug, Ven sighed silently and smoothed his hand down the back of Sora’s head, trying in vain to tame the wild locks. 

“Of course.” Ven gently pried his other arm away, Sora’s hand loosely slipping off the wrist as Ven lifted it. “C’mere.” 

The hug wasn’t anything like their normal ones; instead of eagerly reciprocating and making at least one of the bones in Ven’s spine pop, Sora merely laid against Ven’s body as Ven wrapped his arms around him, holding Sora tight. The positioning was awkward, Ven’s legs hurting from how long he was kneeling on the stone floor, but he didn’t complain nor let go. He simply sat and hugged Sora until Sora began to move, pushing at Ven’s chest with his hand, silently asking for an escape. 

Ven snuck a quick kiss to Sora’s temple before Sora pulled away completely, the younger boy grumbling low in his throat. 

“You ready to go, kiddo?” Ven asked, offering Sora a hand. Sora nodded.  
  
“Yeah. Sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for,” Ven replied, allowing no room for argument as he took Sora’s hand and pulled him up. His legs and knees began to ache with a fury, but Ven bit any reaction back. Sora looked disturbed again, twisting his shirt around and between his fingers- Ven nearly just took the initiative and pulled him into a hug again, but resisted. “What’s up?”  
  
“What if he hurts you?” Sora’s voice, while it hadn’t been completely stable, began to wobble as much as it had been while he was panicking. “What if he comes out of nowhere, and I don’t see him, and he takes you away and I can’t find-”

“ _Sora._ ” 

Sora’s mouth shut with a click.

“Even if we _do_ find him in the castle, I promise I won’t let him take me away from you, okay?” Ven made sure Sora was looking at him, repeating “ _Okay_?” once Sora made eye contact. “I’ll kick his little ass right into the Realm of Darkness once we get one _glimpse_ of him,” he added, mostly to himself. 

Sora, who still didn’t seem mentally there enough in order to pick up on sarcasm, took a deep breath and nodded. 

“Okay. We can go, now.”

Ven took Sora’s hand in his, shaking their hands together as a quiet reassurance. Sora made the move to intertwine their fingers, connecting them more securely. Ven smiled, and together they summoned their Keyblades and began the search for a ghost.

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking of big brother Ventus all day. That was the only catalyst to writing this fic. I am not ashamed
> 
> yall know i adore vanitas but god making him evil is so much fun
> 
> ven having hair long enough to put into a ponytail is going to be put into every fic from now on. it's my prerogative 
> 
> thank you SO SO much to KERTO, who is labeled as co-author because they were SUCH a trooper when i was spamming them with the idea for this fic and the majority of the content all within a few hours of each other. thanks for putting up with my bullshit lmao love u 
> 
> I FEEL SO BAD BECAUSE I REALIZED THAT THIS IS THE THIRD FIC I'VE POSTED FOR KINGDOM HEARTS WITH MEMBERS OF THE HEART HOTEL AND I HAVEN'T MENTIONED ROXAS UNTIL NOW AND I HAVEN'T MENTIONED XION AT ALL MY SWEET SEA SALT KIDS I'M SO SORRY LMAO
> 
> thank you so much for reading!! please leave a kudos and/or comment if you enjoyed, i get so excited whenever i read y'all's thoughts even if i don't reply!! i genuinely cherish every kudos/comment i get, they're my lifeblood
> 
> thank you so much for reading!!! i hope you have an absolutely lovely day/night!!! <3


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